Master of Fine Arts in Visual Development with Emphasis in Entertainment Art

at Academy of Art University USA

The MFA in Animation & Visual Effects program focuses on developing skills in any one of the many areas of expertise within the animation and visual effects industry. The program educates students in all aspects of animation and visual effects, from ideation to post production. Communication, collaboration, and time management skills are emphasized throughout the program to ensure graduates are acclimated to the intense professional culture that awaits them.

2D Animation and Stop Motion
This MFA in Animation & Visual Effects program focuses on developing skills in 2D animation and stop motion. The program educates students in all aspects of animation and visual effects, from ideation to post production. Communication, collaboration, and time management skills are emphasized throughout the program to ensure graduates are acclimated to the intense professional culture that awaits them.

The BFA degree builds on the core curriculum of fundamental principles by emphasizing the aesthetic and conceptual skills necessary for a professional portfolio. After completing the core curriculum, students choose to focus on commercial or editorial, fine art, or documentary courses. Upon graduation, students will be required to demonstrate an individual style and a unique approach to their chosen area of study.

The Fashion Marketing BFA includes both creative and analytical aspects of the fashion industry. It provides insights on global customers and marketplace, marketing and business trends in fashion industry. Students will learn various marketing and promotion techniques to develop, manage and promote brands, products and fashion businesses through a range of hands on projects that address dynamic fashion industry and understanding of consumer.

The School of Fashion offers four MA degree programs. They are Design, Costume Design, Fashion Journalism, and Fashion Merchandising. The MA in Fashion and the MA in Fashion Design Emphasis degrees offer courses that include a wide range of design areas including textiles and knitwear. Studio courses hone the graduate candidate's mastery of fashion industry standards in design and construction, enhancing design excellence with computer skills, and preparing MA candidates to launch themselves into the industry upon graduating.

The Masters of Arts in Fashion Merchandising program provides students with the professional skill set necessary for success in today’s fashion merchandising and management environment. Graduates will have the focus and strategic capabilities necessary to run a successful operation including planning, managing, and selling fashion products.

The Master of Arts Program in Fashion Journalism equips students with subject-area expertise to help communicate the rising complexity of the global fashion industry. M.A. students develop both: a deep understanding of social media for journalism and a strong fashion industry grounding that enables them to ask more informed questions, to situate fashion news and business of fashion events into a larger context, and to evaluate fashion collections with a critical, well-informed eye. Students learn to produce cross-platform stories that are nuanced and sophisticated for social, digital, mobile and print media. The M.A. program is fueled by a deep intellectual understanding of fashion, ethics, and the ability to professionally utilize social media - skills that are required of the leading fashion journalists of tomorrow.

The MFA in Sound Design is designed to provide the highest level of training in sound design for film, television, games and other visual media. Students will gain a complete overview of the audio post production process, recording and editing dialog, sound effects, and ambiences to create a sonic landscape which supports and informs the narrative, from initial recording to final mix. MFA students will complete a thesis project and portfolio in their final year, and graduate with a working knowledge of professional workflows to prepare them for success in the soundtrack industry.

The Visual Development MA program provides professional development with advanced coursework in still life painting, figure drawing, character design, concept painting, layout design for animation, and other core skills of professional visual developers.

Drawing on your life experiences, coupled with the artistic and technical skills you gain, you’ll be prepared for a career as an art director, copywriter, or creative strategist. A mastery of advanced advertising principles and concepts are brought to life by working independently and collaboratively on your unique portfolio.

With its focused thesis development process, the School of Graphic Design’s MFA program emphasizes advanced study of the field and encourages students to extend their design skills into content creation, authorship, entrepreneurialism, and social innovation.